The present invention relates generally to archery bows and their components and accessories. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for dampening the vibration of a bowstring to reduce the sound produced by the bowstring during the release of the bowstring when shooting the bow, as well as, in some embodiments, for dampening the vibration of the bow limb (or bow limbs) to reduce the sound produced by the limb(s) when the bow is shot.
As recognized by those skilled in the art, a bowstring on an archery bow will produce a characteristic noise upon release of the bowstring to launch an arrow. This characteristic noise is associated with the vibrational pattern created by the bowstring, and is colloquially referred to as a “twang.”
In addition to the sound produced by the bowstring, the bow itself, or, more precisely, the bow limb(s), also may produce a sound when the bowstring is released. This sound is created as the tensioned limb(s) snap back towards a “dead” or “static” (or “neutral”) position and resonate until movement of the limb(s) ceases. Any bow can produce such a sound, but compound bows, in particular, can be highly susceptible.
While theses sounds do not affect the accuracy of a shot, the sounds travel faster than the arrow and, therefore, the sounds may startle the target and reduce the likelihood of an accurate hit. There have been numerous solutions proposed to these problems, many of them basing their effectiveness on the attachment of some device to the bow (the handle/riser and/or the limbs) and/or the bowstring to “interfere” with the oscillating movement of the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring and thereby reduce the associated noises created by the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,269, issued to Saunders, discloses a bowstring sound dampener having a support arm with one end mounted to a bow, and a cushion member on a second end of the support. The cushion member is formed of a resilient material which absorbs the energy of movement of the bowstring upon release of the bowstring after launching an arrow, thereby dampening the sound emitted by the string.
In another example, United States Patent Application Publication No. US2011/0214656, published on Sep. 8, 2011, and concurrently owned with the present application, discloses a Bowstring Sound Dampener having a sleeve and piston with grippers that at least partially surround a bowstring when the piston moves into the sleeve. This design results in numerous advantages as described in the patent application, and the contents of the patent application are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,314, issued to McPherson, discloses a limb-mounted bowstring vibration and noise suppressor. The vibration and noise suppressor is carried by a support having an attachment device at one end for attaching the suppressor to a limb of a bow.
In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,432, issued to Andrews et al., discloses an archery bow having at least one dampener configured to reduce noise and vibration of the bow. The dampener is connected to a limb or to a riser or handle portion of the bow to reduce vibrations transferred to the riser by the limb.
Additional examples of bow limb dampening devices are found in: United States Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0077440 for an Archery Bow Limb Construction With or Without Built In Limb Dampeners by Kronfeld; U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,870, issued to Land, for a Split Limb Archery Bow Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,172, issued to Sanders, for an Archery Bow Limb Shock Cushioning Means Having a Bracket with Pivotally Mounted Weighted Extended Arms; U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,201, issued to McPherson et al., for a Bow Vibration Dampener; and, U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,449, issued to Wright, for Limb Dampeners.
Each of the patents and published patent applications identified in the preceding paragraph generally disclose devices that attach to, or that are formed integral with, the bow limb(s), and that are designed to dampen the movement or vibration of the bow limb(s) to improve the performance and longevity of the bow and, in some cases, to reduce the noise produced by the bow upon release of the arrow.
While the preceding prior art devices perform well, they generally involve the bowstring and/or the bow limb(s) impacting a relatively immobile surface, thereby creating additional noise when the bowstring and/or bow limb(s) impact the surface, or they generally result only in resonant movement of the bowstring and/or bow limb(s) being reduced or slowed, but not eliminated or nearly eliminated.
Therefore, what is needed is a archery bow and bowstring dampening device that offers not only an improved ability to trap the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring to prevent the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring from oscillating after the shot and creating unwanted noise, but that also reduces the noise created upon impact of the bow limb(s) and/or bowstring, thereby providing additional benefit. The claimed dampener invention satisfies this need.